“The Systems Leader” (Book Review)

In “The Systems Leader”, management lecturer Robert E. Siegel writes about the uncertain landscape in which today’s leaders operate, having to manage many conflicting tensions. System Leadership is about mastering five cross-pressures:

• Priorities: The need to succeed at both execution and innovation
• People: The need to project both strength and empathy
• Sphere of influence: The need to focus both internally and externally
• Geography: The need to think both locally and globally
• Purpose: The need to pursue both ambition and statesmanship

The main point of “The Systems Leader” is that today’s leaders need to be good at fitting all the different pieces together to solve problems that matter.

Five key competencies of successful Systems Leaders

In his book, Siegel lists five key competencies that successful Systems Leaders master:

1. Operating at intersections — Operating at intersections means pursuing two or more goals at the same time, because you know that succeeding at each of them will deliver powerful synergies that you couldn’t get from pursuing each goal separately.
2. Preparing for the future — There are several pitfalls we can fall into when preparing for the future. For example, being aware of the biases you’ve developed over your career, which could influence the decisions you make. Groupthink is another risk, and Systems Leaders should seek outside opinions beyond their trusted reports.
3. Managing context — Facts in isolation aren’t truth; you need to understand their context too. The leader’s responsibility is to define and explain context, to separate signal from noise as situations evolve. You can explain a decision by saying “We have to make this change for these reasons, we know how to do it, let’s get started.” Talented people want to know the why behind every what.
4. Thinking like a Product Manager — As a product manager myself, it was interesting to read Siegel’s point about thinking like a PM. He talks about their key skills being interpersonal: communicating and collaborating effectively with people across different functions. Like Siegel, I often talk about product managers managing tensions, and interpersonal skills play an important role in effectively managing these tensions.
5. Embracing risk during uncertainty and disruption — Systems Leaders tend to be more “risk on” in disruptive situations and confront the source of the challenge, rather than passively waiting to see how things play out in their company or industry.

A Systems Leader’s Checklist

The book concludes with a few essential principles for Systems Leaders:

• Leader, know thyself — Awareness is the key word here.
• Do the hard jobs yourself — Model hard work for your team, particularly emotionally hard work.
• Be brave enough to say, “I don’t know” — Especially during a crisis, it’s important to remember that no one has all the answers.
• Listen to internal teammates you can trust — Surround yourself with a diverse team whose credibility is well established and who aren’t afraid to disagree with you, respectfully but, when necessary, firmly.
• Watch where you spend your time, because the people who report to you are watching — No matter what adversity you’re facing at any moment, you still control your own calendar.
• Be mindful of the difference between skill and luck — Be aware that the things you did during your lucky moments aren’t necessarily the playbook you should copy in the future.
• Ask yourself if you’d rehire yourself today for your current job — Are you the best person for the role now, rather than when you first got the job? If you’re no longer the best person, what are you going to do about it?

Main learning point: The strength of “The Systems Leader” lies in Siegel’s framework for navigating today’s complex business environment. Leadership is about mastering the ability to hold multiple cross-tensions simultaneously.